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Something different to talk about

So normally when I drive in to work I listen to Mike and Mike, but Friday the conversation was pretty boring. I decided to change it to a morning show I NEVER listen to, frankly I just don't get he hype around the dude, but anywhoo.

They had a few guest on and one guy was telling a story about a life after death experience he had. I've always found these stories pretty cool and just thought maybe since it was the off season this would be something different to talk about.

Re: Something different to talk about

Originally Posted by NCRAVEN

So normally when I drive in to work I listen to Mike and Mike, but Friday the conversation was pretty boring. I decided to change it to a morning show I NEVER listen to, frankly I just don't get he hype around the dude, but anywhoo.

They had a few guest on and one guy was telling a story about a life after death experience he had. I've always found these stories pretty cool and just thought maybe since it was the off season this would be something different to talk about.

I think whats always more interesting than the story itself is the effect it has on the person and the people he/she tells. For me personally, these stories don't require a supernatural explanation. But, this is one of those tricky situations that make mind-body dualism seem like the only way to explain this.

Despite what he says, it seems obvious to me that when he went to church two days prior it impacted him more than he thought, or was willing to admit, and it remained in his subconscious. The brain still remains active after you are 'dead' although it would be more appropriate to say after you have stopped breathing or after your heart has stopped. There's a lot of interesting studies of near death experiences. One that stuck with me was, when people dramatically lose blood flow to their brain, because of the loss of oxygen, the neurons suddenly release their electrical potential, creating a chain reaction of neurons firing in close proximity, usually searing an event in the memory.

Dualism is simply no longer necessary to understand how consciousness and the brain works. It is indisputable to say that we are conscious, but it is not necessary to say we have 'a mind' in the sense that we are biological machines controlled by a ghost. It is impossible to think of oneself as distinct from ones brain. More or less I equate these incidents to a dream.

Re: Something different to talk about

A dream is what I've always kind of thought about too. The only reason these still intrigue me, is that I've read or heard (can't remember) stories of people being dead for longer than a few minutes, like 15 to 20. Are you saying that the "dream" they have of after they stop breathing is seared in their memory that even if they were dead for an hour they'd still remember it?

We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid. - Benjamin Franklin

Re: Something different to talk about

Originally Posted by NCRAVEN

A dream is what I've always kind of thought about too. The only reason these still intrigue me, is that I've read or heard (can't remember) stories of people being dead for longer than a few minutes, like 15 to 20. Are you saying that the "dream" they have of after they stop breathing is seared in their memory that even if they were dead for an hour they'd still remember it?

Definitely.

Here's an example: REM sleep, the sleep stage where dreams occur, only accounts for around 20% of the time you sleep. So the only dream you may have had occurred 6 hours before you actually wake up, yet it's the first thing you remember when you wake up.